Estrogen treatment improves spatial learning in APP + PS1 mice but does not affect beta amyloid accumulation and plaque formation.

We investigated the effects of ovariectomy (OVX) and 17 beta-estradiol (0.18 mg per pellet) treatment on spatial learning and memory, hippocampal beta amyloid (A beta) levels, and amyloid plaque counts in double transgenic mice (A/P) carrying mutated amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) and presenilin-1 (PS1-A246E). After OVX at 3 months of age, the mice received estrogen treatment for the last 3 months of their lifetime before they were killed at 6, 9, or 12 months of age.

Unilateral Angle II in functional lateralities.

The aim of this study was to explore unilateral Angle II-type malocclusion prevalences in functionally true right-sided (TRS) and non-right-sided (NRS) children having one or more left-sided functions (eye, hand, foot). A half cusp sagittal relationship of the upper and lower M1 and Dm2 was determined on dental casts of 1423 young American black and white children in a cross-sectional sample with the mean age of 8.5 years (range 6-12 years).

Five-year outcome of laparoscopic and Lichtenstein hernioplasties.

Background: Laparoscopic hernia repair has been proved superior to open repairs in terms of short-term results, but long-term results of laparoscopic and open mesh repairs have been lacking until recently.

Methods: A total of 123 patients were randomly allocated to two treatment groups comparing laparoscopic and Lichtenstein hernioplasties in three separate trials. The first and second trials compared small and large mesh used in transabdominal preperitoneal repairs, and the third study compared totally extraperitoneal hernioplasty with the Lichtenstein operation.

Deciduous tooth crown size in prematurely born children.

Aim: The purpose of our study was to examine deciduous tooth crown size in preterm children.

Subjects And Methods: The subjects consisted of 328 prematurely born (< 37 gestational weeks) white and black children and 1804 controls, who participated in the cross-sectional study of the Collaborative Perinatal Project (USA) in the 1960s and 1970s. Documents of the present research consisted of dental casts of the 6-12 years old children.

Early results of a single-blinded, randomized, controlled, Internet-based multicenter trial comparing Prolene and Vypro II mesh in Lichtenstein hernioplasty.

Background: The standard polypropylene mesh used in Lichtenstein's operation induces a strong foreign-tissue reaction with potentially harmful effects. A mesh with less polypropylene could possibly be beneficial.

Patients And Methods: Six hundred men with inguinal hernias were randomized to Lichtenstein's operation with Prolene or Vypro II in a single-blinded multicenter trial.

Incidence of influenza in Finnish children.

Background: Influenza is an important cause of respiratory illness in children, but data on virologically confirmed influenza infections in children treated as outpatients are limited.

Methods: We carried out a prospective cohort study of normal children younger than 13 years (n = 1338) in the winter of 2000 to 2001. During the study period of 32 weeks, the children were examined at the study clinic whenever they had fever or signs of respiratory infection.

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the effect of antihistamine or corticosteroid treatment in acute otitis media.

Objectives: To determine whether the adjunctive drugs antihistamine and corticosteroid improve immediate and long-term outcomes of acute otitis media (AOM).

Study Design: Children with AOM (3 mos-6 y) were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. All 179 children received one dose of intramuscular ceftriaxone and were assigned to receive either chlorpheniramine maleate (0.

Effects of exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy on serotonergic symptoms in newborns and cord blood monoamine and prolactin concentrations.

Background: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have gained wide acceptance in the treatment of mental disorders in pregnant women, but there seems to be an increased risk for neonatal adaptation problems after exposure to SSRIs in late pregnancy. We aimed to investigate the perinatal sequelae of infants exposed to SSRIs during their fetal life and the relationship of these symptoms to the cord blood monoamine and prolactin concentrations.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, controlled, follow-up study with 20 mothers taking 20 to 40 mg/d of either citalopram or fluoxetine for depression (n = 10) or panic disorder (n = 10) and their infants and 20 matched controls not receiving psychotropic medication for confounding obstetric characteristics.

The eruption of permanent incisors and first molars in prematurely born children.

The purpose of this work was to examine whether the clinical eruption of the permanent first molars and incisors is affected by pre-term birth. The data applied to 328 prematurely born white and black children and 1804 control children who participated in the Collaborative Perinatal Project (USA) in the early 1960s and 1970s. The dental examinations had been performed in a cross-sectional manner at ages varying from 6 to 12 years in 95 per cent of cases (range 5-14 years).

Short-term symptomatic outcome and quality of life after laparoscopic versus open Nissen fundoplication: a prospective randomized trial.

Background: Laparoscopic operation has replaced conventional operation in the treatment of reflux disease. This change has been mostly based on excellent results from highly experienced antireflux surgeons rather than on randomized clinical trials.

Aims: The objective of this study was to compare the short-term symptomatic outcome and patient quality of life costs after laparoscopic (LNF) or open Nissen fundoplication (ONF) in a community hospital setting with less experienced surgeons.

Antibiotic treatment of acute otorrhea through tympanostomy tube: randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study with daily follow-up.

Objective: The role of routine antimicrobial treatment of acute middle-ear infections is under debate, because the efficacy of antimicrobials in the resolution of middle-ear fluid has not been unambiguously proven. Acute tube otorrhea is regarded as evidence of acute otitis media, and for methodologic reasons it was chosen to provide objectivity for diagnostics and outcome assessment. The objective of this study was to assess whether amoxicillin-clavulanate accelerates the resolution of acute tube otorrhea.

Pharmacokinetics of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine in pregnancy and lactation.

Background: The aim of this prospective clinical trial was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of fluoxetine and its active metabolite, norfluoxetine, during pregnancy, delivery, and lactation in mothers and their infants.

Methods: Eleven mothers taking fluoxetine and their infants were enrolled in the study. A control group of 10 women who were not taking psychotropic medication were prospectively matched for confounding obstetric characteristics at the time of delivery.

Importance of respiratory viruses in acute otitis media.

Acute otitis media is usually considered a simple bacterial infection that is treated with antibiotics. However, ample evidence derived from studies ranging from animal experiments to extensive clinical trials supports a crucial role for respiratory viruses in the etiology and pathogenesis of acute otitis media. Viral infection of the upper respiratory mucosa initiates the whole cascade of events that finally leads to the development of acute otitis media as a complication.

Levels of 90Sr and 137Cs in the urine of Finnish people.

The aim of this study was to estimate the current concentrations of 90Sr and 137Cs in the urine of Finnish people and to estimate the doses. Two to three daily urine samples were collected from 18 adult Finnish volunteers in connection with studies of 137Cs body burdens in 1999-2001. The 90Sr activities in urine varied between 1.

Middle ear fluid histamine and leukotriene B4 in acute otitis media: effect of antihistamine or corticosteroid treatment.

Objective: Two potent mediators of acute inflammation, histamine and leukotriene B4 (LTB4), have been shown to play important roles in the pathogenesis and clinical course of acute otitis media (AOM) in children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of adjuvant drugs, antihistamine and corticosteroid, in reduction of the levels of histamine and LTB4 in the middle ear and their ability to improve outcomes of AOM.

Methods: Eighty children with AOM (aged 3 months to 6 years) were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study.

The common cold.

Despite great advances in medicine, the common cold continues to be a great burden on society in terms of human suffering and economic losses. Of the several viruses that cause the disease, the role of rhinoviruses is most prominent. About a quarter of all colds are still without proven cause, and the recent discovery of human metapneumovirus suggests that other viruses could remain undiscovered.

Sagittal occlusal relationships and asymmetry in prematurely born children.

The aim of this investigation was to examine the effect of pre-term birth on sagittal occlusal relationships. The subjects were 328 prematurely born white and black children and 1804 control children who participated in the cross-sectional study of the Collaborative Perinatal Project (USA) in the early 1960s and 1970s. Dental examinations, including dental casts and photographs, were performed at the age of 6-12 years.

Tension-free inguinal hernia repair: TEP versus mesh-plug versus Lichtenstein: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare laparoscopic hernioplasty with two open tension-free hernia repairs.

Summary Background Data: Laparoscopic hernioplasty is associated with a short rehabilitation, but it is a technically difficult procedure. It is unclear if it has advantages over the technically easier open tension-free herniorrhaphy.

Functional outcome after displaced femoral neck fractures treated with osteosynthesis or hemiarthroplasty: a matched-pair study of 714 patients.

Osteosynthesis (OS) and hemiarthroplasty (HA) are the commonest treatments for displaced cervical hip fractures in the elderly, but there is no consensus as to which is better. In this prospective matched-pair study we compared these methods as regards functional outcome. In 1989-1996, using the same standardized forms, all displaced cervical hip fractures were prospectively registered in the university hospitals of Oulu in Finland and Lund in Sweden.

Deciduous tooth crown size and asymmetry in strabismic children.

Objectives: To explore deciduous tooth crown dimensions in strabismic children and the relationship between the type of strabismus and tooth crown mesio-distal (M-D) and labio-lingual (L-L) size asymmetries.

Material: Dental casts at mixed dentition of 2159 Collaborative Perinatal Study black and white children were measured, 123 of them strabismic at 1 year of age, age ranging from 6 to 12 years.

Methods: Directional and fluctuating asymmetries in antimeric teeth were explored in various types of strabismus having unilateral, bilateral or alternating expression.

Nasal swab versus nasopharyngeal aspirate for isolation of respiratory viruses.

To determine the usefulness of nasal swabs as a simple method for detection of respiratory viruses, we compared nasal swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates obtained at the same time from the opposite nostrils of 230 children with upper respiratory infection. The sensitivity of nasal swabs was comparable to that of nasopharyngeal aspirates for the detection of all major respiratory viruses except respiratory syncytial virus.

Effects of fimbria-fornix lesion and amyloid pathology on spatial learning and memory in transgenic APP+PS1 mice.

Transgenic mice carrying mutated human amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) and presenilin (PS1, A246E) genes develop first amyloid plaques around 9 months of age, but up to 18 months of age, amyloid depositions in these mice were largely restricted to the hippocampus, subiculum, and neocortex. To assess the behavioral consequences of amyloid accumulation in the hippocampal formation, we compared the effects of APP+PS1 (AP) genotype and fimbria-fornix (FFX) transection, either alone or combined, on various spatial learning and memory tasks. Both FFX-lesioned and AP mice were impaired in spatial navigation in the water maze, a typical hippocampal dependent task.